Dr. Hong Luo holds a Bachelor's degree in Agronomy and Master's degrees in Plant Genetics and Breeding and Molecular Biology. He completed his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He then accepted a postdoctoral fellowship from the European Union and the National Center of Scientific Research of France to work on molecular marker development for genetic studies in Gracilaria gracilis. He did his third postdoc at Purdue University. Before joining Clemson University, he was with HybriGene, Inc. as the Director of Research, working on gene transfer for trait modification in turfgrass and rice. He currently maintains several active research projects for both basic and applied research on the genetic modification of crop plants. He is a Faculty Fellow, Clemson Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and the recipient of the 2013 Clemson University Godley-Snell Agricultural Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB). He was awarded the Fellow Award and President Award of the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) in 2024 and is the elected member-at-large on the SIVB Board of Directors and served as SIVB Plant Biotechnology Section Program Committee Co-Chair and Chair and as the SIVB 2023 Program Chair.